The number of outbound trips has reached 130 million in 2017, up 7.0% from 122 million in 2016; an estimated USD 115.29 billion was spent, a year-on-year increase of 5%, according to the 2017 China Outbound Tourism Travel Report jointly released by Ctrip and China Tourism Academy.

According to statistics, Ctrip's tailor-made travel and local guide platform has served millions of tourists in 2017. Such personalized trips designed by Ctrip travel planners are becoming a popular option. Chinese travelers are becoming increasingly focused on their well-being and the purpose for making outbound trips has changed from sightseeing and shopping to enjoying high-quality services.

China remains the largest source of outbound tourists in the world

China has become the largest source of inbound tourists for many countries such as Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Russia, Maldives, Indonesia, North Korea and South Africa.

In 2017, Thailand and Japan remained the two hottest destinations, attracting 9.8 million (28% of total inbound visitors) and 7.35 million (25.6% of total inbound visitors) tourists from the Chinese Mainland respectively.

In 2017, some dark horse destinations have attracted the attention of Chinese tourists. The top 10 popular destinations with the fastest growth in tourist numbers were Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia, Czech, Germany, Spain, the UAE, England, Netherlands and Iceland.

With increasing disposable income, fewer visa restrictions, better exchange rates and more flight connections, the love for outbound travel still remains in China.

By the beginning of 2018, the number of countries and regions allowing Chinese citizens with ordinary passports to enter without a visa or with a visa on arrival (VOA) has increased to 66, among which 12 have signed mutual visa exemption agreement with China, 15 have allowed unilateral visa exemption and the other 39 have allowed unilateral VOA.